When a Lunenburg-based band found themselves stuck in quarantine they decided to do something productive with their time.
Under the name Juicebox, Morgan Zwicker (drums), his brother Zack Zwicker (vocals/bass) and Ben O’Toole (guitar/vocals) recorded and released a single called Social Distance. Former band member Alex Kelly (lead guitar) also contributed to the single.
Born and raised in Lunenburg County, they went their separate ways to attend university. When they reunited last year they started to play as a band .
Morgan Zwicker describes their musical style as similar to the band Blink 182.
“We play alternative rock, it’s fun music, party music. We like to play at bars and music festivals,” he said.
They released their first full album in October 2019 called Wasted Youth, a nostalgic look at their youth and where life has taken them. The Social Distance single was just released and they are currently working on a new EP that will be released in the next six months.
Zwicker says that when the pandemic lock-down happened it suddenly gave them a lot of time to devote to their music.
“It was a tough time for everyone both mentally and emotionally, everyone had their struggles. For us it was almost a relief because it gave us a lot of time. We tried to focus on the positive and not the negative of the situation,” he said.
Zack Zwicker wrote the lyrics to Social Distance in his Lunenburg home, and sent it to his brother and O’Toole, who room together in Kingsburg.
“It became a quarantine project and we did it in a really interesting way. We actually shared parts from home,” he said.
“My brother sent an audio recording to Ben and I, and we would contribute parts by sharing files online so it was really new for us that way.”
They also recorded a music video-all while social distancing.
“You can see in the video that there’s not any one shot where we are in the same frame together. That was a fun little project to do while still adhering to all those social distance protocols,” said Zwicker.
He says the response to the music video has almost always been laughter.
“People identify with it for sure.”
The single is available on music streaming platforms or on YouTube here.
